Kazakstan
In response to the caller who is interested in
visiting Kazakstan, my closest friend has been
living in the former capital for the past year and
a half and I thought I'd pass on some of the
information she has given me about the place.
1. It is not really worth travelling all the way
there to visit. The Kazak people were nomadic
when the Russians moved in and all the cities are
modern and soviet style. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are far more
interesting, with working cities that are thousands of years old
and artisans practicing ancient techniques of rug making, ceramics
and metal works.
2. Almaty is an increasingly dangerous city in
terms of robbery. You must be aware as you move
around the city.
3. There is a very large expatriate community
from around the world. The economy there is
growing. She says it is a good place to live if
you are going to be in central Asia as there is
complete access to western goods. It should not
be a final destination for travelers.
4. In the interior of the country there were
environmental abuses and catastrophes which render
certain areas toxic to people.
5. The western portion of the country is very
violent and women should take extreme caution or
not travel there alone. She has two former female
Peace Corps volunteers who were each assaulted by
men--one violently.
6. Finally, the climate is similar to Minnesota
and North Dakota. Outside of the cities, it is
steppe land and remote. Kazak people are closely
related to Mongolians They, too, lived in Yurts
and were nomadic prior to becoming part of the
Soviet Union. On the Eastern border, there are
some of the highest mountains in the world. It
can snow on the higher passes throughout the
summer.
When we got together recently, we met in Istanbul.
If I do get out to visit her while she is there,
she has trips to Uzbekistan and Tajikstan that she
would insist we go on, which are quite lovely and
exceptionally rich in history. She said the
capital of Uzbekistan was like Istanbul in its
ancient architecture except that there was more of
it and much of it is used today. I did find some
web sites which gave good information when I was
researching a possible visit some time back. Silk
Road was the key phrase I typed in.
I hope this helps. Thanks for the show. It's
very fun.
Liz
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